凋亡细胞被识别和吞噬机制

凋亡细胞能被吞噬细胞吞噬,这对于正常组织的动态平衡和免疫反应是非常重要的。在凋亡细胞被吞噬（engulfment）的过程中,吞噬细胞表面存在大量的受体来识别凋亡细胞发出的信号,如：“吃我（eat-me）”信号、缺少存在于健康细胞上的“不吃我（don’t-eat-me）”信号以及由凋亡细胞分泌的可溶性“来吃我（come-get-me）”信号。至少有7种线虫（Caenorhabditis elegans）吞噬基因（它们在哺乳动物中存在同系物）组成了两条平行但部分重叠的吞噬信号通路,并且通过一个类似于巨胞CL（macropinocytosis）的“栓系-激活（tether and tickle）”保守机制吞噬凋亡细胞,这个机制因吞噬细胞和凋亡细胞的种类以及细胞凋亡后的时间差异而不同。     

细胞凋亡的分子机制

多细胞生物在发生,发展过程中,为了保持正常的生理机能,一部分的细胞发生自发性细胞死亡,这种细胞死亡是被细胞内一系列相关性的分子所调控,并伴随有典型的形态学改变,这种现象被称为细胞凋亡（ａｐｏｐｔｏｓｉｓ）作为一种积极排队生物体内的过剩细胞和有害细胞的机制在个体形态形成,形态改变等发生过程中,成体的恒常性的维持以及生物体的防御等方面发挥作用,此外在许多病理状态下也存在着细胞凋亡,近年的研究已经明确了     

《基因与发育》：细胞凋亡吞噬研究获进展

6月15日。《基因与发育》（Genes＆Development）杂志发表了中科院生物物理研究所刘迎芳实验室和北京生命科学研究所（NIBS）王晓晨实验室的合作研究成果”Structural Study of TTR-52 Reveals the Functional Mechanisms of a Bridging Molecule in Apoptotic Cell Engulfment”。该工作通过结构和功能研究,揭示了在秀丽线虫凋亡细胞的清除过程中。桥联分子TTR-52介导吞噬细胞识别凋亡细胞的作用机制。     

重金属诱导细胞凋亡的分子机制

重金属诱导的细胞凋亡是一个十分复杂的过程,不同种类的重金属以及同类重金属离子的不同价态所诱导的凋亡效应及其分子机制不尽相同。目前的研究表明,重金属与DNA形成加合物而导致DNA损伤可能是引发细胞凋亡的重要步骤：多种重金属能通过激活内质网、线粒体钙通道,使Ca^2 释放进入细胞质而引发凋亡;重金属还能使细胞中ROS升高,在直接导致DNA损伤的同时,启动与线粒体相关的细胞凋亡信号通路。此外,ROS还能通过MAPKs增强JNK介导的：FasL和Fas表达,最终使caspase-3和caspase-7激活,从而促进凋亡的发生。重金属诱导细胞凋亡还涉及一系列重要基因和蛋白质的参与,包括促进凋亡的Src家族酪氨酸激酶、bax、fas和p53等基因及相关蛋白,抑制凋亡的Sp1锌指转录因子、bcl-2和myc等基因及相关蛋白。部分重金属如镉、锌等对细胞凋亡具有诱导和拮抗双重效应,其中拮抗效应主要是通过与自由钙离子协同进行的,而诱导效应则可能是通过调节caspase-3活性而实现的。     

线粒体与细胞凋亡机制

细胞凋亡是生理性的细胞死亡过程,受到多种基因的精确调节,一类被统称为ｃａｓｐａｓｅ的半胱氨酸蛋白酶是细胞凋亡程序的执行者,综们被激活后作用于细胞内的一些蛋白质,经起细胞凋亡。线粒体中含有许多凋亡相关因子,在凋亡信号转导中起着重要作用。细胞受到凋亡刺激后,细胞色素ｃ、ＡＩＦ、ｃａｓｐａｓｅ－９等凋亡相关因子从线粒体中释放出来。细胞色素ｃ通过和Ａｐａｆ－１、ｃａｓｐａｓｅ－９相互作用,激活ｃａｓｐａｓ     

细胞凋亡的信号转导研究进展

在多细胞生物体中,细胞数量的生物稳态是通过细胞增殖和细胞死亡之间的平衡来维持的。目前认为,细胞死亡可分为两大类,一类是由各种突发的,意外的事件所致的细胞死亡,即病理性细胞死亡,形态学上表现为细胞坏死。另一类为生理性细胞死亡,又称为编程性细胞死亡(Programmed cell death),形态学上表现为细胞凋亡(apoptosis)。细胞凋亡与细胞     

细胞凋亡基因的发现

细胞凋亡基因的发现李雨民,孙元明（中国医学科学院放射医学研究所天津３００１９２）细胞凋亡是一种具有特征性的形态变化和生化改变的细胞死亡过程,机体启动这一机制以清除无用和有害的细胞。近来细胞凋亡基因的研究取得了很大进展,８０年代以来Ｈｏｒｖｉｔｚ等在研...     

细胞凋亡的信号转导机制与调节

本文综述近年来细胞凋亡信号转导机制的有关研究进展,重点概述了凋亡信号转导的死亡受体途径,线粒体－细胞色素Ｃ途径的信号转导机制及信号转导的有关调节机制的研究进展。     

细胞凋亡机制的研究进展

以线虫和哺乳动物为实验材料,综述近年来对细胞凋亡机制的研究进展。     

Anion Transport or Nucleotide Binding by Ucp2 Is Indispensable for Ucp2-Mediated Efferocytosis

Rapid and efficient engulfment of apoptotic cells is an essential property of phagocytes for removal of the large number of apoptotic cells generated in multicellular organisms. To achieve this, phagocytes need to be able to continuously uptake apoptotic cells. It was recently reported that uncoupling protein 2 (Ucp2) promotes engulfment of apoptotic cells by increasing the phagocytic capacity, thereby allowing cells to continuously ingest apoptotic cells. However, the functions of Ucp2, beyond its possible role in dissipating the mitochondrial membrane potential, that contribute to elevation of the phagocytic capacity have not been determined. Here, we report that the anion transfer or nucleotide binding activity of Ucp2, as well as its dissipation of the mitochondrial membrane potential, is necessary for Ucp2-mediated engulfment of apoptotic cells. To study these properties, we generated Ucp2 mutations that affected three different functions of Ucp2, namely, dissipation of the mitochondrial membrane potential, transfer of anions, and binding of purine nucleotides. Mutations of Ucp2 that affected the proton leak did not enhance the engulfment of apoptotic cells. Although anion transfer and nucleotide binding mutations did not affect the mitochondrial membrane potential, they exerted a dominant-negative effect on Ucp2-mediated engulfment. Furthermore, none of our Ucp2 mutations increased the phagocytic capacity. We conclude that dissipation of the proton gradient by Ucp2 is not the only determinant of the phagocytic capacity and that anion transfer or nucleotide binding by Ucp2 is also essential for Ucp2-mediated engulfment of apoptotic cells.     

Caspase Activity Is Required for Engulfment of Apoptotic Cells

Clearance of apoptotic cells by phagocytic neighbors is crucial for normal development of multicellular organisms. However, how phagocytes discriminate between healthy and dying cells remains poorly understood. We focus on glial phagocytosis of apoptotic neurons during development of the Drosophila central nervous system. We identified phosphatidylserine (PS) as a ligand on apoptotic cells for the phagocytic receptor Six Microns Under (SIMU) and report that PS alone is not sufficient for engulfment. Our data reveal that, additionally to PS exposure, caspase activity is required for clearance of apoptotic cells by phagocytes. Here we demonstrate that SIMU recognizes and binds PS on apoptotic cells through its N-terminal EMILIN (EMI), Nimrod 1 (NIM1), and NIM2 repeats, whereas the C-terminal NIM3 and NIM4 repeats control SIMU affinity to PS. Based on the structure-function analysis of SIMU, we discovered a novel mechanism of internal inhibition responsible for differential affinities of SIMU to its ligand which might prevent elimination of living cells exposing PS on their surfaces.     

Mitochondrial Staining Allows Robust Elimination of Apoptotic and Damaged Cells during Cell Sorting

High-speed fluorescence-activated cell sorting is relevant for a plethora of applications, such as PCR-based techniques, microarrays, cloning, and propagation of selected cell populations. We suggest a simple cell-sorting technique to eliminate early and late apoptotic and necrotic cells, with good signal-to-noise ratio and a high-purity yield. The mitochondrial potential dye, TMRE (tetramethylrhodamine ethyl ester perchlorate), was used to separate viable and non-apoptotic cells from the cell sorting samples. TMRE staining is reversible and does not affect cell proliferation and viability. Sorted TMRE⁺ cells contained a negligible percentage of apoptotic and damaged cells and had a higher proliferative potential as compared with their counterpart cells, sorted on the basis of staining with DNA viability dye. This novel sorting technique using TMRE does not interfere with subsequent functional assays and is a method of choice for the enrichment of functionally active, unbiased cell populations.     

Autophagy genes promote apoptotic cell corpse clearance

Autophagy is a catabolic process through which damaged organelles and protein aggregates are delivered to lysosomes for degradation. Autophagy genes are reported to promote exposure of “eat me” signals on the surface of apoptotic cells, but whether they function in engulfing cells is not clear. Recently, we found that the autophagy mutants atg-18 and epg-5 are defective in removing apoptotic cells derived from the C. elegans Q neuroblast, a phenotype that can be fully rescued by expression of ATG-18 and EPG-5 in the engulfing cell. Loss of ATG-18 or EPG-5 does not affect cell corpse engulfment but causes defects in phagosomal recruitment of RAB-5 and RAB-7 and formation of phagolysosomes. EPG-5, ATG-18 and LGG-1 are sequentially recruited to phagosomes, suggesting that they function at different steps of phagosomal maturation. Our studies indicate that autophagy genes function sequentially to promote apoptotic cell corpse degradation in the engulfing cell.     

Expression of Apoptotic and Antioxidant Enzyme Genes in Sheep Oocytes and In Vitro Produced Embryos

The present study was to find out the expression pattern and relative expression level of apoptotic (Bcl2, Bax, Casp3, and PCNA) and antioxidant enzyme [(GPx, Cu/Zn-SOD (SOD1) and Mn-SOD (SOD2)] genes in sheep oocytes and developing embryos produced in vitro by conventional RT-PCR and real time qPCR, respectively. Different developmental stages of embryos were produced in vitro from oocytes collected from local slaughter house ovaries. RT-PCR amplicons showed expression of Bcl2 and PCNA in all stages except at morula. In contrast Bax and Casp3 were expressed in all stages. GPx and SOD1 were expressed in all stages but SOD2 was not expressed in 8–16 cells, although expressed in the remaining stages. The qPCR analysis reflected that Bcl2 expression was significantly (P < 0.05) downregulated in morula and maximum upregulated expression was observed in in vitro matured oocytes. Higher upregulated expression (P < 0.05) of Bax was in morula and downregulated expression was at 2-4 cells. Casp3 was significantly upregulated at 8–16 cells and downregulated in in vitro matured oocyte. PCNA expression was highest at blastocyst and least expression was at morula. GPx was expressed significantly highest in matured oocytes and least expression was at zygote. SOD1 was expressed significantly highest at 8–16 cells and least expression was at zygote. Expression of SOD2 was least among all the antioxidant enzymes but significantly higher expression of SOD2 was in immature oocyte; however, least expression was at 8–16 cells. It can be concluded from the study that the sheep embryos produced in vitro are highly sensitive to culture condition, which alters the expression level of apoptotic and antioxidant enzyme genes.     

Control of non-apoptotic nurse cell death by engulfment genes in Drosophila

Programmed cell death occurs as a normal part of oocyte development in Drosophila. For each egg that is formed, 15 germline-derived nurse cells transfer their cytoplasmic contents into the oocyte and die. Disruption of apoptosis or autophagy only partially inhibits the death of the nurse cells, indicating that other mechanisms significantly contribute to nurse cell death. Recently, we demonstrated that the surrounding stretch follicle cells non-autonomously promote nurse cell death during late oogenesis and that phagocytosis genes including draper, ced-12, and the JNK pathway are crucial for this process. When phagocytosis genes are inhibited in the follicle cells, events specifically associated with death of the nurse cells are impaired. Death of the nurse cells is not completely blocked in draper mutants, suggesting that other engulfment receptors are involved. Indeed, we found that the integrin subunit, αPS3, is enriched on stretch follicle cells during late oogenesis and is required for elimination of the nurse cells. Moreover, double mutant analysis revealed that integrins act in parallel to draper. Death of nurse cells in the Drosophila ovary is a unique example of programmed cell death that is both non-apoptotic and non-cell autonomously controlled.     

Tim4- and MerTK-Mediated Engulfment of Apoptotic Cells by Mouse Resident Peritoneal Macrophages

Apoptotic cells are swiftly engulfed by macrophages to prevent the release of noxious materials from dying cells. Apoptotic cells expose phosphatidylserine (PtdSer) on their surface, and macrophages engulf them by recognizing PtdSer using specific receptors and opsonins. Here, we found that mouse resident peritoneal macrophages expressing Tim4 and MerTK are highly efficient at engulfing apoptotic cells. Neutralizing antibodies against either Tim4 or MerTK inhibited the macrophage engulfment of apoptotic cells. Tim4-null macrophages exhibited reduced binding and engulfment of apoptotic cells, whereas MerTK-null macrophages retained the ability to bind apoptotic cells but failed to engulf them. The incubation of wild-type peritoneal macrophages with apoptotic cells induced the rapid tyrosine phosphorylation of MerTK, which was not observed with Tim4-null macrophages. When mouse Ba/F3 cells were transformed with Tim4, apoptotic cells bound to the transformants but were not engulfed. Transformation of Ba/F3 cells with MerTK had no effect on the binding or engulfment of apoptotic cells; however, Tim4/MerTK transformants exhibited strong engulfment activity. Taken together, these results indicate that the engulfment of apoptotic cells by resident peritoneal macrophages proceeds in two steps: binding to Tim4, a PtdSer receptor, followed by MerTK-mediated cell engulfment.     

维持胚胎干细胞自我更新分子机制的研究进展

胚胎干细胞通过特殊内源性分子的表达,以及微环境中多种细胞因子和胞外基质的刺激,构成信号网络,共同调控自我更新.近年来,通过对Oct3/4、Nanog等胚胎干细胞特殊分子标记,以及LIF-STAT3,Wnt-β-连环素,BMP-Id等信号通路的研究,探讨了胚胎干细胞自我更新信号网络的分子机制.维持自我更新的关键在于胚胎干细胞生长微环境中的各种细胞因子和胞外基质的含量,以及细胞内源性特异分子表达量之间的平衡.